The Ashes of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond tutu, to whom South Africa gave its last goodbye at a state funeral on Saturday, were deposited this Sunday in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, Anglican religious authorities confirmed.
“Let us commit ourselves as a Church and as a society with the radical, revolutionary change that he advocated, based on the demands of the Bible “, said to dismiss Tutu the current Archbishop of Cape Town and leader of the Anglican Church of South Africa, Thabo Makgoba, who also officiated the funeral yesterday.
The remains of Tutu were buried this Sunday at 06.00 local time (04.00 GMT) in this temple, a symbol of democracy in the country known as the “cathedral of the people” during “apartheid”, which ruled from 1948 until the beginning of the 90s and against which Tutu fought tirelessly.
In a private ceremony that lasted 30 minutes and was attended by about twenty family members - including his widow, Nomalizo Leah Tutu- and several clergymen, Makgoba deposited Tutu’s ashes in front of the main altar of the cathedral.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba lays the ashes of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on the high altar of St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Photo: AP
Archbishop emeritus now rests under a memorial tile, engraved with his name and the years of his birth (1931) and death.
Following the wishes of Tutu himself, who added to his fight a long list of causes including climate activism, the body was cremated this Saturday after the funeral. by the method called “aquamation”.
This alternative more ecological Traditional cremation requires less energy, reducing the use of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, through a chemical process that involves the use of heat and water with a high alkaline content.
More events honoring Tutu will take place in South Africa and other parts of the world in the coming weeks, including a three-month ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London, the date of which has not yet been confirmed. .
Desmond Tutu died on December 26 at the age of 90.- Photo: AP
Archbishop emeritus passed away on December 26 in Cape Town at 90 years old.
Awarded the Peace Nobel In 1984 for his fight against the racial oppression of “apartheid”, Tutu is considered one of the key figures in contemporary South African history.
His career was marked by a constant defense of human rights, something that led him to distance himself on numerous occasions from the ecclesiastical hierarchy to openly defend positions such as homosexual rights or euthanasia.
In recent years, he had stayed away from public life due to his advanced age and health problems that he had suffered for years, including prostate cancer.
Source: EFE
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